Florida Lake Drops to Record Low Level
WEST PALM BEACH, Florida (ENS) - Water levels in Lake Okeechobee are expected to fall to the lowest on record this week, threatening an important source of drinking water for nearly five million people and the Everglades during South Florida's worst known drought.
The nation's second-largest freshwater lake held at nine feet on Tuesday, less than a half-inch above the previous record of 8.97 feet, set May 24, 2001, after another long drought.
The average water level for this time of year should be around 13 feet.
Lake Okeechobee is a backup drinking water source for millions of people in South Florida and the lifeblood of the Everglades. The region is largely dependent on the lake during dry periods, when it can be used as a reservoir.
While the record low level of Lake Okeechobee means that drought conditions still exist, seizing this opportunity to clean the bottom of the lake now will ensure a healthier lake when the rains return,' said Florida Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Michael Sole.
The drought has allowed the District to begin clearing 500,000 cubic yards of accumulated sediment from the southwest area of the 730 square-mile lake to return the lake bottom to a more sandy base, improve water quality and restore wildlife habitat. To date, some 7,000 truckloads of muck have been hauled away.
'We will continue to work with our partners in South Florida to conserve water, implement restrictions where necessary and develop long-term solutions to prepare for future drought conditions,' said Sole.
Just seven inches of rain fell across South Florida over the last five months, only about half the average amount of rainfall.
Above-average rainfall is needed to replenish the system and return regional supplies to normal conditions.
'Water managers anticipated for many months that scarce rainfall across South Florida would bring new records lows,' said Carol Ann Wehle, executive director of the South Florida Water Management District.
She said, 'We are preparing for continued dry conditions and using all available emergency measures to protect drinking water supplies, meet the needs of our farmers and safeguard the environment but the regional impacts of a drought are extreme and far-reaching.'
Since March 30, Florida has spent $12.3 million in drought-response and emergency activities, including initiating and enforcing water the most stringent regional water restrictions ever imposed in 13 counties throughout South Florida.
'The greater Everglades system has always experienced weather extremes,' said Susan Sylvester, with the South Florida Water Management District. 'We have periodic droughts, tropical storms and back-to-back hurricanes, often impacting the water level in Lake Okeechobee, which has varied almost 10 feet in elevation since recordkeeping began in the 1930s. Our challenge is to manage our way through those extremes.'
'Long-time Floridians know that previous droughts occurred in 1981, 1971 and 1956,' Sylvester said. 'The difference was that, back then, seven million people were not relying on our regional system.'
Only isolated showers are forecast over the lake until the weekend, when more substantial rain is expected, according to the National Weather Service.
Forecasters say any rain over the lake would only stabilize lake levels temporarily because more rain is needed farther north in the Kissimmee River valley, which feeds the lake.
The last time the lake level rose was after Tropical Storm Ernesto brushed past Florida last August, according to the Jacksonville district of the Army Corps of Engineers. The lake level rose 1.5 feet to 13.5 feet after that storm, said a hydraulic engineer with the Corps.
Water officials say current predictions for a very active hurricane season starting June 1, may bring much needed rainfall to South Florida.
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